JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
Zachary Hinsvark, a 15-year-old Randolph High School sophomore, is a step closer to becoming an Eagle Scout - the Boy Scouts' highest achievement - after performing extensive community service at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Saturday and Sunday.
All he needs is a cooking badge, but his Eagle project, which consisted of restoring the landscape around Heritage Park, Medal of Honor Memorial, Missing Man Monument and the Daughters of the American Revolution sites, will heavily determine if he is selected for the prestigious rank.
According to the Boy Scouts of America website, about 7 percent of all Boy Scouts earned the Eagle Scout rank in 2013.
With supervision from members of the 502nd Civil Engineer Squadron, Hinsvark and 50 volunteers from his church, school, scout troop and family removed overgrowth, replaced rock and mulch, and repaired a walking path.
"I pass the memorials every day on my way to school and I thought that they could use a touch up," Hinsvark said. "They all represent the achievements of people who've done remarkable things and by maintaining them, we're continuing to honor those people."
The group worked about 11 hours between the two weekend days, Hinsvark said.
In addition to weed removal and granite replacement, the volunteers also trimmed shrubbery around the memorials, Richard Herrera, 502nd CES operations section chief, said.
"Zachary was in charge of the entire project," Herrera said. "He is a great young man and his volunteers did an awesome job making these tributes to American heroes presentable."
Hinsvark enrolled in Cub Scouts in 2004 and Boy Scouts in 2009. He participates in Troop 512 of Schertz, Texas. His father, Lt. Col. Brian Hinsvark, is an Air Education and Training Command division chief at JBSA-Randolph.
JBSA-Randolph's Troop 38 also helped with Zachary's renovation project.